Victory in Weary Struggles

Do you ever get weary, as a wife, a mom, a friend…a Christian? I know I have. Sometimes life can feel big and difficult. And when that happens, it’s easy for our problems to pretty much become all-consuming—which just makes us feel even more weary. Burned out. Hopeless. Defeated.

But I’ve learned that when I feel like that, though there may be a battle waging somewhere in my life’s circumstances, a bigger, more important battle is waging in my mind.

I’m looking at circumstances through my own eyes. I’m listening to an endless litany of my own thoughts or perceptions of the situation. I’m all wrapped up in “me” and how I “feel”. Too frequently, the things that get my attention in this state of mind are not the things that will help me get over or through the situation victoriously.

(Hint—victoriously is a key word here!)

But, let’s face it. Sometimes when we’re in the midst of something gut wrenchingly difficult, we just want things to get better right now. We want the storm to pass over. We want the situation fixed. We want things to return to normal. But when a speedy end of a trial is our focus, it becomes easy to forget that we should want to learn whatever lessons the Lord has for us through our current situation. We forget that we should want to make it through victoriously. (There’s that word again!)

You see, in God’s economy of life, nothing is supposed to be wasted. Even our trials! Isn’t that amazing? No matter what we’re going through, God has wonderful things for us to learn about us, others, the world…and above all, about Him and His mighty power and love!

So here’s a little secret. We need to realize that a real battle is being waged in our minds. And in this battle, we’re talking to ourselves and listening to ourselves—but frequently, we’re not saying the right things!

Too often we’re talking to ourselves about how we “feel”. We feel hurt, wronged, cast aside, betrayed, angry, desperate, confused or hopeless. If we’re not careful, before long, we’ll “faint in our minds” (Hebrews 12:3) But, a soldier who has fainted isn’t doing much fighting. In fact, a fainted soldier is pretty much out of the battle. Done. Defeated. Period.

That’s not where we want to be. There is no victory there.

In Psalm 51:6, we’re told that God desires truth in our inward parts. When we’re going through difficulties, talking to ourselves and exploring truths about God is what is needed! Remember, faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:7). Exercising faith in God, resting in God and trusting Him to work for us, and in us, is where we find HIS power. HE is where we find victory in our struggles.

If we’ve been Christians for very long, we know that though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh. And we know that our weapons are not carnal, but mighty through God (2 Corinthians 10:3-4). We also know that part of the armor of God is the sword of the Spirit (Ephesians 6:17).

But we may read over those words so quickly that we miss two important words. Those words are “through” and “of”. Our weapons are mighty “THROUGH” God. And, the sword of the Spirit is, after all, the sword “OF” the SPIRIT.

Victory in our struggles comes when we focus on God and His truth and truly allow HIM to use His mighty weapons and His Word in our hearts, minds and lives.